Reading Horizons for RTI (Response to Intervention)

Learn how Reading Horizons works for all three RTI Tiers:

Catch Them Before They Fall

Research by Jeanne Chall at Harvard University revealed that about 30% of students will struggle with reading when taught with typical, mainstream instruction. Meaning, if reading instruction is not improved in most K-3 settings, 30% of students will require intervention. The best solution: catch students before they fall.

How Can Reading Horizons Help?

By implementing explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory reading instruction into all three tiers of the RTI model, you can meet the needs of students who require additional help to become proficient in reading.

Reading Horizons has refined explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory instruction in a way that is practical for teachers to teach and simple for students to learn. When implemented across all three RTI tiers, students have a structured, step-by-step framework that builds solid foundational reading skills.

TIER I: Universal Instruction

The research-based Reading Horizons program provides emerging readers a thorough understanding of the structure of the English language. The program empowers every student with strategies that drastically decrease reading, spelling, and pronunciation errors. By providing Reading Horizons explicit reading instruction to every student in a whole-class setting for 30 minutes a day, the 30% of students who struggle and require intervention drops to only 5-10%.

Aside from teaching students solid, foundational reading skills, Reading Horizons works perfectly as a supplement in a whole-class general-education setting because its multi-sensory nature is appealing and engaging to students of all learning styles. In addition, the program is correlated to most major basal programs and to the Common Core State Standards.

By teaching Reading Horizons methodology to all K-3 students, you provide them with the best possible chance to achieve reading success while preventing many students from falling behind.

TIER II: Targeted Intervention

Reading Horizons is helpful for all students, but most importantly, it makes sense to students who struggle with reading and would not otherwise be able to learn to read.

The program is easily differentiated to the needs of each Tier II student. Assessments and activities provide immediate, corrective feedback that keeps students on track for success. Assessments in the software and direct instruction materials provide the data needed to identify struggling students, differentiate instruction, and monitor progress. For students needing additional practice, the online software can be accessed from home.

Upon completing the program, Tier II students often return to mainstream classrooms ahead of their peers in reading.

TIER III: Intensive Intervention

Even with strong instruction in place in Tiers I and II, some students will still struggle. For students with processing issues, such as dyslexia, special needs, or English language learners, reading is a significant challenge.

Reading Horizons meets the needs of students with severe reading difficulties. The multi-sensory nature of the program activates many areas of the brain, facilitating learning, and helping these students make sense of reading. Specific suggestions for group activities, offered in the manual, allow teachers critical instructional time to focus on one student while the rest of Tier III students participate in meaningful skill-building activities.

Software and teacher-administered assessments allow teachers to identify students with severe reading difficulties and target the specific weaknesses that are preventing them from making progress with reading. Assessment data, built into the program, is organized in a manner that facilitates collaboration between instructors in each of the three tiers. This assessment data also helps teachers clearly communicate the progress of each student to parents and administrators.

By implementing Reading Horizons as a RTI program, the needs of students in each of the three tiers can easily and efficiently be met.